


The Bits I Gave You

by SaritAadam



Category: The Penumbra Podcast
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Scars, but he is working on it, juno is not good at being emotionnally open
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-07-15
Updated: 2019-07-15
Packaged: 2020-06-29 01:15:14
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19819507
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SaritAadam/pseuds/SaritAadam
Summary: Scars are like doors to the past. They are telling a story about the person they mark, what kind of person they are.The kind of person Juno Steel is is no one damn business. But if the man in his arm asks, can he really not tell?





	The Bits I Gave You

Peter loved Juno's scars.

The first time Juno realized that Peter's lips and tongue were following his scars, he dismissed it. After forty careless years taking every opportunity to jump into fights, a lady wouldn't have a lot of unmarked skin left for a lover to touch after all.

But more and more, he followed the exact patterns. And soon, it was happening when they weren't having sex. They would be laying in bed, and Nureyev would run his long fingers over the old wound circling Juno's hip. They would be showering, and Nureyev would softly kiss the mark coloring his scapula. They would be sitting in the common room, and Nureyev's hand would brush the scar on his knuckle.

Juno didn't ask why.

But he was still surprised when Peter inquired about them.

They were in each other's arms, still sticky with sweat and a little out of breath. Nureyev kissed the flaw on his shoulder. “Juno? I am wondering, how did you get this scar?”

Juno looked at him silently. “I...” he eventually said, “Took… A bad hit… during a fight.”

The thief laughed in the cicatrice. “It must have more details to that story, detective.”

It had. And Juno told them. He told the story of how he was stabbed with a broken bottle in a clandestine bar. He told it in their tiny and dark bedroom, with his voice low, to Peter Nureyev who was staring at him with his dark eyes, like he was saying the most damn interesting story of the galaxy. Who was staring like it was important.

After that, they slept, and it was the end of it.

Except that it wasn't.

A few days later, Peter kissed a scar on Juno's chest and casually asked about it. More days passed, and he did the same with one on Juno's hand.

Juno said the stories behind each one, while Nureyev kept looking at him like every single one of them was the bloody Andromeda movie. When really, they were not.

Sure, some of them were kind of cool, like blocking the barrel of the gun with his hand to protect one of his clients. But most of them were uneventful, like when he was a kid and Sasha pushed him in the junkyard. Some were even outright dumb, like cutting his hand with a broken glass when doing the dishes.

But Nureyev didn't care how dumb the story was. He would still carefully listen, still lovingly kiss the old wound, still gladly receive this piece of information about Juno Steel.

Peter had a lot of scars as well.

Not as much as Juno of course, he was not that irresponsible, but you couldn't live the life of a master thief without receiving a few bruises.

When Peter stopped asking questions, after Juno had reminisced about his scars, he looked at Nureyev's. He imagined a story for each one; which ones had a cool origin, which ones were from a street fight when he was a kid, which from a stupid domestic accident. He wondered if all of his aliases had a plausible explanation for every single one of them. He knew that if he asked Peter Nureyev, in the privacy of their bed, he would tell him the truth.

So he didn't.

Peter wouldn't demand about a new scar every time. Sometimes, he would kiss one he already knew and said: “How did you get this one again?”

And while Juno would indulge him by recounting once again his dumb exploits, he watched Nureyev's face. The thief's eyebrows were making a light frown, the same he made when he was learning a building's blueprint for a heist. Peter was remembering him.

Every time he noticed it, Juno had the urge to alter the story. He would not be lying, not really, he would just, omit a detail; or switched the goon who hit him with the one who was already knocked off; said that he tripped on a stair instead of a rug. Just, anything, everything to keep something for himself, to not put all of him out there. But it seemed… wrong, doing that to the man who gave him so much.

So he stuck to the truth.

One night, Peter didn't ask him anything.

He was spooning Juno, moving his right hand around the detective's body, like it was the canvas for his terrible doodles. His left one was playing with Juno's.

Juno let him. He watched as the hand tangled their fingers, closed their fists, twisted their wrists. Peter's ended up lying on top of Juno's, back against palm. The detective slid his fingers between the ones of the spidery appendage, immobilizing it. Like a response, it draped its own finger on top of Juno's while Nureyev pulled the lady closer in his embrace.

Juno's thumb was on top of one of Peter scar. A small one, just at the base of his thumb, almost invisible. And, as it often did, his mind wondered about the story behind this tiny portion of skin. He mindlessly brushed it.

“How did you get this scar?”

The words came out rushed, but they came out.

The following silence made Juno harshly aware of the knot in his stomach. He turned his head to see Nureyev's face and caught a glimpse of unusually sharp teeth.

“Well, my Juno, you picked an interesting one!”

And he told the story behind the wound, as easily as that. As easily as Juno has done again and again.

One day, he would know everything about Peter Nureyev. And Peter Nureyev would know everything about him.

And it terrified him.

_But maybe_ , a whisper breathed deep into his head as Nureyev gave him a piece of himself. _Maybe, it is worth it._

**Author's Note:**

> I had decided to not write fanfiction right now because I don't have the time. But then, my brain betrayed me and imagined this short one, already half-written in my mind and with the god damn tittle. I didn't have a choice.
> 
> Thank you for sticking until the end! If you enjoyed it, please consider leaving kudos and/or comments. Any feedbacks full my small heart with joy. You can also come say hi on tumblr (@saritaadam).


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